Amgen Tour of California cycling road race placed on hiatus, will not return for 2020 racing season

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Amgen Tour of California cycling road race has been placed on hiatus, and will not return for the 2020 racing season.

In a news release, AEG, the company that organizes the race, says that the "business fundamentals of the Amgen Tour of California have changed since we launched the race 14 years ago."

The company says that while the popularity of professional cycling continues to grow, it has become more challenging each year to stage the race.

In years past, many Central Valley cities have played host to the race. Most recently, Clovis was the endpoint for the 4th stage of the 2012 race.

The city of Merced was also hoping to host both the start and endpoint of a race stage in 2020.

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The company says it will spend the next year looking to see if there is a business model that will allow the race to be relaunched in 2021.